articles - Labour and employment law

In the current Polish labour market, disclosure of salaries by employers is standard only in certain industries, particularly in the IT sector. Many employers do not disclose salary information to protect company secrets. Hence, it appears, that the norm is not to disclose salary ranges in recruitment advertisements, use of salary secrecy provisions and for employers to increasingly rarely set pay grades, which translates into less disclosure of salaries in organisations.

Directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the Council to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms was adopted on 10 May 2023. What new obligations will employers face? How does EU law understand equal pay?

The government’s bill to amend the Labour Code and certain other acts, which seeks to implement solutions provided under EU Directives into Polish legislation[1], may have a significant impact on the employees’ rights and on the corresponding employers’ obligations. The amendment seeks to extend parenthood rights, including by extending parental leave (in the spirit of work-life balance) and to make revolutionary changes in how employment contracts are terminated.

In 2019, the so-called Work-life Balance Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU) was adopted. This directive regulates in particular the minimum requirements for:

• Paternity, parental and carers’ leave;
• Flexible working arrangements for employees who are parents or carers.

Since 16 July 2020, companies transferring personal data from the EU to the US, including employees' personal data, have had a difficult nut to crack. The Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated the decision in the Privacy Shield case, depriving companies of the possibility of basing data transfers to the US on this basis. However, the Court's judgment (so-called Schrems II) may have serious consequences for companies transferring data to other countries outside the European Economic Area as well.

A draft amendment to the law on the recognition of professional qualifications acquired in the EU Member States has just been submitted to public consultation. The draft implements the EU directive on this subject (2018/958) into the Polish legal system. This directive in turn complements Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications. The deadline for implementation falls on 30th July 2020. The changes are to unify the rules and criteria for controlling access to regulated professions for people from other EU countries. For it is not clear in the Member States...